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  • DIY Pressure Cooker Water Distiller (Video)

    DIY Pressure Cooker Water Distiller (Video)

    If you’re a homesteader, you probably have been faced with the question of how to ensure your family is getting the best drinking water, or how to purify water in the event of possible contamination of your water source.

    There are a lot of different options out there for water purification, and distilling water is one of the best. Distilled water is actually rather controversial, as many claim it can deplete the body if essential  nutrients. While the minerals available in spring or well water can be quite beneficial, and clean, pure mineral water is great for your health, it is not actually true that distilled water will actually rob you of these minerals, it simply doesn’t contain them.

    Distilled water is nothing more than pure H20, and while fresh spring or well water is probably preferable for daily drinking, there are still many good reasons to be able to distil your water. If a well, spring, or public water supply might be contaminated, being able to distil water could be lifesaving, as it will remove bacteria, chemicals, and impurities. Or perhaps you only have access to treated water; in this case, distilled water would be far more preferable than water full of chemicals like chlorine and fluoride.

    There are a lot of DIY water distillers out there, and I thought this one was particularly clever. It uses just a few supplies, that you could find very inexpensively. It uses a pressure cooker, which I thought was really cool, especially since it can be very easy to find a dirt-cheap pressure cooker at a thrift store or flea market.

    Check out this simple, genius DIY distiller and see if it might be a good addition to your homestead or preparedness plan:

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  • Shade Tolerant Vegetables

    Shade Tolerant Vegetables

    Sun is a crucial commodity in any garden, and if you don’t get enough sun in your garden, you might be wondering what to plant. Even having half your garden or yard covered with a shadow for part of the day seems like it excludes a great many options for planting.

    Fortunately, there are shade tolerant vegetables you can experiment with that can maximize that shady space in your garden and keep it producing as seasons change and light fades.

    Planning 

    When planning out your garden, spend time watching the way the sun moves for a few days, and designate the areas with the most sun exposure for light-craving plants, like tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, and cucumbers.

    Shade tolerant plants: 

    Leafy greens: 

    The delicate leaves of many healthy, hearty leafy greens thrive in partial shade. For the cooler, shadier parts of your garden, opt for lettuce, spinach, sorrel, endive, watercress, arugula, and mixed salad greens. These typically thrive in the cooler parts of the growing season, and too much sun makes them bolt and become bitter, so they’re not only ideal for shade, they actually prefer it. They can do fine with 3 to 4 hours of sun a day, as well as dappled or indirect sunlight.

    Root vegetables 

    Root veggies such as carrots, beets, turnips, and radishes, do quite well with only 3-4 hours of sunlight a day. While they will grow bigger in full sunlight, they’re actually sweeter and have a more delicate flavor when they grow smaller.

    Brassica

    The brassica family, such as brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower, are happier in cooler temperatures so they’re ideal for either fall planting or shady garden real estate. They do just fine with half a day of sun.

    Legumes 

    Bush beans (as opposed to pole beans, which need full sun) and cold-season peas also will tolerate shadier patches of the garden, and also do fine with half a day of sun.

    Herbs

    There are many herbs that prefer dappled sunlight or half a day of shade, which is why herbs are so easy to grow on patios or windowsills indoors. Mint, cilantro, parsley, and oregano do great in partial shade.

     

    Finally, you can also experiment and see what works in the shade! Especially if you’re growing in pots, if something doesn’t seem to be thriving in the shade, move it to full sun and see how it does. Everyone’s climate and soil condition is a little different, and gardening is largely about trial and error, so see what you can manage to grow in the shade.

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  • How to Make Healthy Gummy Candy

    How to Make Healthy Gummy Candy

    Gummy candy is a great treat, but unfortunately, it’s usually loaded with dyes, preservatives and chemicals.

    Like many junk foods, there are healthy versions you can make at home, but DIY gummy candy has a unique quality among healthy alternatives to candy: it’s actually really good for you. 

    The base of homemade gummy candy is gelatin, which is an excellent source of protein, minerals, and vitamins that help improve skin, hair, nail, dental, and bone heath, ease the symptoms of arthritis, relieve tendonitis and other muscle and joint-related health issues.

    It’s amazingly good for you, but make sure you buy gelatin from grass-fed cows. Gelatin from feedlot cows is not anywhere near as healthy, as those animals are often unhealthy themselves and pumped full of antibiotics and hormones.

    Also, make sure you buy a gelatin that says it will dissolve in hot water and clump in cold water. If it says it will dissolve in cold water, it won’t work for gummies. Gummies have gotten very popular, so these days, most brands will probably indicate what you can use the gelatin for on the container.

    There are many different options for flavoring gummy candy, the sky is pretty much the limit! Just do a quick search on Pinterest and you’re bound to be overwhelmed by all the creative combinations foodie bloggers come up with.

    Here’s a very basic recipe to get you started:

    Ingredients and tools:

    • 3/4 cup fruit juice
    • 3 tbs raw honey or maple syrup
    • 3 tbs grassfed gelatin powder
    • Small saucepan
    • Candy molds or shallow glass pan

    Directions: 

    1. Get all your ingredients and your candy molds or glass pan together. If you are using a glass pan, gently grease it. Make sure you have everything measured and ready to go before you get started, as some steps are time-sensitive.
    2. Next, make sure you have room in your refrigerator for the gummies to cool once they’re in the molds or the pan. They will need to sit flat on a surface. I usually line my candy molds up on a baking sheet and make space for them before getting started. If your fridge is too full, you can also use the freezer.
    3. Gently heat the juice over low heat in a small saucepan on the stove.
    4. Stir in the honey or syrup until fully dissolved.
    5. Sprinkle in the gelatin, whisking to combine as you go. Continue to whisk until completely dissolved. You might have a few clumps, try to nudge these or press with a fork until they are broken up and dissolved, as best you can (a few small lumps won’t ruin it, if the rest of the gelatin is fully dissolved.
    6. Once your gelatin is fully dissolved, remove the liquid from heat and pour right away into your candy molds or pan.
    7. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, or freeze for 10-20 minutes. Once they’re fully solid, either pop out of the candy molds or cut up into squares.
    8. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and enjoy!

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  • Ways to Profit Off Your Land

    Ways to Profit Off Your Land

    When you invest in a homestead property, it probably won’t be cheap. You won’t want to buy cheap, useless land to get started, after all, since it won’t be much use to you.

    So how can you offset the cost of settling on the perfect slice of property?

    Well, there are a lot of possibilities. Here are just a few, to be followed up with more as time goes on. Be sure to let us know how you’ve made money off your homestead, so we can add it to the list!

    Vegetable Gardening

    Build additional beds to what you will need for your family and put the effort in a cash crop to sell at the farmer’s market. Quick, easy crops include eggplant, asparagus, okra, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, summer squash, cabbage, carrots, and leeks, to name a few (we’ll cover this more extensively in the future as well).

    Fruit Trees or Grapes

    Investing in some fruit trees and a small orchard, or grape vines, could pull in a handsome profit for your homestead if you do it right. Fruit trees are not incredibly high-maintenance and can produce a whole lot of fruit for you to sell at a farmer’s market or even to local restaurants, grocers, or food production factories.

    Eggs

    Invest in a large coop and a system to move your chickens around your property, like a mobile coop, and you’ll have eggs for days you can again sell at farmer’s market, directly to customers, or to grocers, bakers, or restaurant. Nothing is as appealing on a menu as “farm fresh eggs!”

    Bed and breakfast

    If you’ve got an extra structure on your property, spruce it up to create a rustic farm getaway. People love to experience country life on vacation (without having to actually get up early to do the chores) and you can charge a handsome price for it. Just make sure you’re coded correctly, or use AirBnb.com, which is getting very popular.

    Beekeeping 

    Raw honey and beeswax are very valuable and in demand. Harvest raw honey to sell by the jar, or beeswax to sell either raw or in crafts such as lotions, candles, or even crayons.

     

    Stay posted for more ideas on how to profit off your land.

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  • Why Are My Chickens Not Laying Eggs? (Video)

    Why Are My Chickens Not Laying Eggs? (Video)

    There are definitely reasons to keep chickens other than for producing eggs, but for the most part, eggs are probably why you’re raising chickens!

    So when they stop laying, what do you do?

    Well, Becky from Becky’s Homestead on YouTube has some solutions. There are several different reasons why your chickens might not be laying, and she’s got some suggestions for how to determine what those reasons are, as well as how to help them out get producing again.

    These simple tips will help you determine what kind of environment and nutrients chickens need to lay eggs. They’re not just little egg machines, they’re animals who need a peaceful environment, the right nutrients and habitat, and at least some attention and TLC to produce.

    Get some insight into what’s keeping your hens from producing and learn a whole lot about how they function in this video from a very skilled and knowledgeable homesteader and poultry farmer. I always have to mention about Becky, not only does she have a great YouTube channel covering all kinds of homestead, farming, and gardening related topics, she’s a trustworthy source since she built her house herself and got started homesteading from scratch.

    Enjoy!

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  • 3 Beginner Compost Mistakes to Avoid

    3 Beginner Compost Mistakes to Avoid

    Getting a good compost pile going is an awesome way to build your soil and contribute valuable nutrients to your organic garden.

    There are lots of methods for getting started, and lots of options as far as bioavailable, organic material you can use to build it.

    However, you can also make mistakes, and before you build your own compost pile, try to avoid these simple “don’ts” to ensure you have a successful compost pile and save yourself a lot of trouble.

    Cover your pile

    Compost piles left out in the open are not only stinky and unsightly, but they also attract flies and even wasps, which will make it no fun to turn the pile. While there are many creepy crawlers you’ll happily welcome into your pile, that help decompose and contribute nutrients to compost, flies in particular you do not want. They are unsanitary to have around, can spread harmful bacteria, and are also super annoying.

    Covering up your compost pile also helps it to decompose faster. By wrapping it in a tarp, for example, you’ll trap in warmth and moisture, speeding up the composting process and getting you the end result quicker.

    Water your compost pile

    You don’t have to water your compost pile everyday, but keep it consistently moist enough that it never dries out. Compost piles are essentially their own little ecosystems, full of life that work to decompose the soil, so they need moisture to thrive. Every week or so, stick your hose in the compost pile and let it run for an hour or so, soaking the whole pile thoroughly.

    Avoid weed seeds

    Be careful about the manure or foliage you add to your pile; anything that might have weed seeds in it will not only sprout in your pile, they could easily survive the whole composting process and sprout in the garden you add your compost to. And that’s not something you want to do!

     

    When you invest your time and effort into starting a compost pile,  make sure you’re doing it right!

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  • 3 Reasons to Keep Raw Honey Around

    3 Reasons to Keep Raw Honey Around

    Honey is a staple of any well-stocked pantry, but most people just think of it as a condiment to be added to tea or perhaps to top sweets or desert.

    The majority of conventional, store-bought honey, however, is actually pasteurized. Pasteurized honey sounds like a good idea, like any pasteurizing process, as it supposedly eliminates the possibilities of harmful bacteria growing in the honey.

    However, when you pasteurize honey, it actually eliminates the vast majority of beneficial qualities of the honey, and it is also largely unnecessary, as honey rarely contains any harmful bacteria.

    Here are three reasons you should always have raw honey as a staple in your pantry:

    1. It lasts forever

    No, seriously. If honey doesn’t come into contact with water or other external factors, it can last virtually forever. They found honey in ancient Egyptian tombs that was still perfectly edible (not sure if anyone ate it, but they deemed it edible at least). You can keep a jar of it in your pantry and it will virtually always be fresh. This makes it a great survival food, as well as reliable pantry staple.

    2. It can replace refined sugar

    You can use honey in place of white, refined sugar in pretty much any recipe, and it is way, way healthier. Surprisingly, for something so sweet, it has a comparably low glycemic index, making it a great alternative to sugar for those dieting or with health-related issues who want to watch their GI.

    3. It is a medicine as well as a food

    Along with all the wonderful ways you can use honey in cooking, there’s also a multitude of health benefits to raw honey. It contains prebiotics which help aid digestion and replenish beneficial gut bacteria, and it also is a natural antibiotic that can keep wounds clean and protected from infection. It can also help reduce allergies or ease cold and flu symptoms, especially if you consume local raw honey. You can even wash your hair and your face with it, or add it to healing facial masques.

     

    Raw honey is truly a miracle of nature, and it’s increasingly easy to find at local grocery stores. My Walmart, for example, carries several varieties of local raw honey that are very reasonably priced. Add this crucial pantry staple to your home cooking today.

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  • Thriving 23-Year-Old Permaculture Food Forest (Video)

    Thriving 23-Year-Old Permaculture Food Forest (Video)

    I recently had the pleasure of watching this amazing video on a 23-year-old food forest that Robert and Robyn Guyton have grown in the small town of Riverton on New Zealand’s South Island.

    This is the ultimate goal of permaculture, to create your own natural, sustainable ecosystem that you can live off of, but that thrives and grows on its own.

    It takes many years and a lot of patience to cultivate something like this, but hearing the couple talk about their relationship with their food forest and watching the blossoms, insects, and hearing and seeing the birds and other creatures that thrive in this amazing little ecosystem is incredibly inspiring.

    I think what makes this food forest particularly successful is their knowledge of and respect for the native species of birds, insects, and animals, and their willingness to serve and give back to the local ecosystem as well as benefit from it on their own.

    In a stressful and crazy world, take some time to appreciate the beauty of nature and set some goals of your own for your own little self-sustainable sanctuary one day. Enjoy!

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